When I was a small boy, people in the congregation my father was serving would invite us over to dinner. My mother upon seeing their house would sometimes remark what a lovely house it was. On more rare occasions she would remark about how lovely their home was. As I grew older I asked my mother why she used the two words-house and home-at different times. Her response was that not every lovely house is a lovely home. Homes refer to the occupants. A house is simply an abode.

Several years ago I was invited by a family in my congregation to bless their new house. When they invited me they indicated that having a blessing on their house would help establish their house "as a home where God is celebrated." These were not people who you would call overly religious, but they were faithful and an active part of our faith community. It was the only time anyone ever invited me to bless their house (By the way I still do house blessings in case you're interested).

We have discovered during this Great Recession that our houses are not the valuable investments they once were. In fact what may be a lesson from the devaluation of our houses is to look at them as places where we can build faithful families. For too long too many of us have looked for the house that would impress and not been as concerned about the families in them.

In this same vein, my father always used the words church and church building separately. He would refer to his study being in the church building. If he was going to his study he would say he was going to the church building. The church for him was the body of Christ. It was so much more than the building. I have been trying to do the same over the last several years-church building when I go to the facility and my study instead of office-my home versus my house. Language can be a powerful way of helping us change, not only the way we think, but also the way we live.

Prayer

Gracious God bless this day the house where I live and the home within. Let my home be decorated by your love and grace. When there is strife help me to do what I can that your Spirit might bring healing. In the name of Christ. Amen.

C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor

Castleton United Methodist Church

Indianapolis, Indiana

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
-Romans 12:3

In a wonderful new book by David Brooks called The Social Animal, David Brooks observes that research on people has revealed that most of us are mildly delusional status inflators.We wonder about the problem with the other guy and not so much about ourselves.We wonder why others are such bad drivers even as we drive while talking on our cellphone. Do not think of yourself more highly that you ought to think, Paul writes.

Paul's words here are appropriate. If we don't have a proper self-assessment, we can't be a worthy contributor to the body of Christ. And, we certainly cannot contribute to those who live around us in a meaningful and helpful way. I use myself as an example. I don't know how often I have said to myself when someone else's cellphone rings in worship or at some other public event why they didn't silence it at the beginning.Yet a few months ago I was praying at a Church Council meeting and my own cellphone went off in the middle of my prayer. It was a good lesson in humility. Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think.

How many times have we been locked in the throes of verbal battle with our spouse, child, or parent believing that the problem lies with them and not ourselves? We believe if our spouse, child, parent, co-worker, etc. would simply be more of this or of that everything would be fine. Paul is trying to help us with our mildly delusional status inflators, and he does so with grace and love.

Mildly delusional status inflators who ignore the importance of humility can too easily become the radical who listens to no one. They can become the person who believes the problem is not theirs, but the other person's. We must have a proper self-regard, but be cautious not to suffer from delusional status inflation.

Prayer,
Almighty God whose love reaches out to me on this day, grant me the strength of self-regard that will enable me to regard others as your children. Forgive me when I suffer from delusional status inflation and in so doing fail to listen to those who may have something to teach me about life and faith. In the name of Christ. Amen.

C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is
easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it.
For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads
to life, and there are few who find it. -Matthew 7:13-14

During the season when squirrels look for food that may be a bit easier to find and will tickle their taste buds in new and wonderful ways, I saw a squirrel tackling one of our bird feeders. The bird feeder was one of those shaped like a long tube. It was hanging from a tree branch in our backyard. The squirrel had crawled out on the limb from which the tube was hanging and began eating the bird seed that was at the top of the filled tube.

I can't really blame him for going after what seemed easy pickins'. However, as the squirrel continued to eat he went further and further down the tube-head first. Suddenly, he realized that he was upside down in a glass tube. How would he get out? Panic set in. He struggled and struggled to try and back out of the tube. What had seemed so easy could very well conclude in his death.

It is a parable of life. It is a fairly human trait which we all possess to one degree or another to take the easy, convenient way. What may appear to be easy in the final analysis may trap us. This was the simple point Jesus was trying to make. Revenge, cheating, hatred, judgment, drunkenness, sloth, envy, etc. may appear attractive at the beginning, but be our undoing at the end.

Prayer
God of love and power I begin another week of life. For sure there will be moments when I am tempted to feed on gossip, envy, revenge, hatred or some other trap that would damage my spirit. Grant me the courage and determination to take the high road with all of its difficulties that I might enjoy life free from the regret and guilt the inevitably follows. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into the pit.
-Matthew 15:14b

Jesus was referring to the fundamentalists of his day that got all fired up about whether or not a person washed their hands (as the laws of ritual cleansing required), but seemed relatively unconcerned about what was in a person's heart. What comes out of the mouth, or how the hands are used arises from the heart. If the heart is not cleansed then what difference is it whether we have clean hands or are picky about what we eat or drink?

In the Middle Ages if you had a headache, the local "physician" treated it by drilling a hole in your skull so that the evil spirits could escape. If you didn't die of infection from the dirty drill bit, you might actually have gotten well-or maybe not. They were concerned about treating externally a problem that was a matter of internal issues.

Many of the religious leaders of Jesus' day approached religion the same way. If you ate food that was ritually clean, kept your hands clean, and otherwise did as the laws directed, you were considered to have great faith. Jesus' point was that many of these leaders were blind to the very essence of religion's purpose-changing the heart. Change the heart, and you change the way a person views themselves, others, and the world around them.

A friend of mine, Mike Mather, senior pastor of Broadway Church here in the city, was observing how accessible information is. Every day we are bombarded with information from our cellular phones, televisions, ipads, ipods, and computers. "Yet," he observed, "it's too bad we live in the age of information and not the age of wisdom."

William James wrote that "the art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook." We have a lot of information but sometimes fail to overlook the details of the information so we might discover the deeper purpose to which the information is pointing. The blindness of too many religious people in Jesus' day (and I might add our own) was they were so focused on the minutiae of the Law, so blinded by it, that they failed to see a wiser purpose-loving God, loving one another, and loving ourselves.

Such discerning wisdom that knows what to overlook and what to focus on begins with reverence for God (Proverbs 1:7). I speak here of the God of Jesus who focused on the heart-the repentance and grace that could heal the heart and literally transform life.

Prayer,
Heavenly Father, I will be bombarded by a lot of information today. Grant me a discerning heart that I may make wise choices and look for what may be the deeper lesson about life. In Jesus' name. Amen.

C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

Diversity in Life and in Faith

A great conductor, tired of the excessively familiar New World Symphony by Dvorak, asked his orchestra to reseat itself on stage so as many players as possible were placed next to an unfamiliar instrument. For example, the first violinist sat next to the timpani, an oboe player amongst the violas, a horn in the cello section and so on. The purpose was to reveal new sounds and textures the musicians would not hear when seated in sections where musicians played the same instrument as they did. The change in Dvorak’s piece was revelatory.

I think this is a marvelous illustration of the importance of diversity in life. We travel in circles where people see things the way we do. People increasingly place their children in schools where the values and perspectives of the other students are like their own. The same could be said of our faith community. Imagine if we worshipped with people who saw their faith exactly as we see ours. We would certainly miss out on a new vision of life and faith.

I marvel at the diversity of Jesus disciples—fishermen, a tax collector, and a nationalistic zealot. They were hardly a homogeneous group. As difficult as this might have been Jesus knew that his teachings would have to appeal to a larger crowd whose values, lifestyles, and experiences would all be very different. So, he recruited people who would understand that kind of diversity. What a difference it made in the broad appeal of the gospel message.

This is one of the reasons I want to travel and see different cathedrals and the communities that grew up around them. Each of them will tell the story of a variety of people and paths of faith. They will tell the story of doctrinal unity and diversity—harmony and controversy. These cathedrals and the communities they spawned comprised of the artisans that constructed them will remind me that we ignore diversity at our peril. A church, a real church requires people of all ages, stages, viewpoints, status, race, and ethnic origins bound together by the mystery and wonder of God and guided by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. We certainly have a ways to go in some areas, but if we can see the strength diversity will bring us and the new ways God will speak to us, we’ll move even closer to the church God wants us to be.

Prayer
Gracious God, I thank you for the blessings of the different. If I have become too comfortable with the life and faith I am composing, seat me next to someone who sees it differently so I might grow in grace to the glory of Jesus the Christ. Amen.

P.S. I am taking the summer off from my weekly articles. See you in the fall.

C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

The Value of Taking Risks

The great cellist Gaspar Cassado used to say to his students, I’m so sorry for you; your lives have been so easy. You can’t play great music unless your heart’s been broken. I would say the same of great composers, great poets, great preachers, great parents, great business people, etc. Getting one’s heart broken is all about taking risks. That is how we come to understand grace—owning the risks we take in a world that is by and large immune to our control.

The compassion Jesus had for others came from having his heart broken. He took the enormous risk of recruiting relatively uneducated and self-absorbed people to follow him. On so many occasions his heart was broken when they fell asleep while he prayed, eyes glazed over at his parables, and doubted after they had witnessed one of his miracles.

A life that is well lived is risky. Marriage is risky. Venturing into a new area of business that is filled with the unfamiliar is risky. Taking the time to make a new friend is risky. Having children is risky. Deciding to care for animals that have been abandoned is risky. Volunteering in an unfamiliar area is risky. You can and will get your heart broken and face disappointment. But you will also experience unparalleled success. The new friend will introduce you to new ideas. The business venture will open up new possibilities. Volunteering will expose you to another world. Having children will make you humble. Marriage will teach you a new kind of love—deeper than you thought possible.

Christians are called to be risk takers especially as we live the message of the gospel in the world. Jesus speaks about this throughout Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7. The risk is seeking to live by what the world deems as unconventional. Yet, I dare anyone to try any of these teachings of Jesus and see if the risk does not result in a richer, more compassionate life. Yes, we will get our hearts broken, and life will not always be easy, but we will to know how great living a life of faith can be.

Prayer
Precious Lord, take my hand and lead through the risky paths of faith. Show me the great joy of a deeper love and a greater capacity to care that my life might more reflect you to a world that thinks it can live without you. Amen.

C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

Waiting

How long, O Lord! Will you forget me forever? How long
Will you hide your face from me? —Psalm 13:1

I just had the privilege of leading another small group on understanding and practicing discernment. As a part of our last session we reflected on one of the most important disciplines about discernment — waiting. Waiting is not valued in our culture. When we want something, we want it now. I think of the commercial frequently seen on television where people, sticking their heads out from a variety of windows, yell, “It’s my money, and I want it now!”

If we want something we jump in the car and get it now. (Although this may be a lot less frequent given the current price of fuel.) When we are sick, we want the magic bullet now that will get us well. Years ago when we wanted to purchase a new car, we had to order it and wait six to eight weeks. The automobile industry caught on quickly that they could sell more cars if they kept a large inventory. We soon learned that when we wanted a new car, we didn’t have to wait. We could have it now. In this social networking age we can give our opinions now and get a response now.

Many of the Psalms deal with lament. They usually begin with something like, “How long O Lord.” Then they are followed by what the psalmist desires and the frustration of waiting for it. I have written about this before, but the Bible indicates that there is a right time for everything. It refers to God’s time. If we are willing to wait rather than rush it, God always has something better.

Alas, many us would rather have it now and settle for less. That is why so often our grieving is cut short; we marry too quickly; and we divorce even more quickly. Isaiah reminds us that they who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will walk and not be weary. They will run and not faint (8:17).

Prayer
O God, guard my life. Do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you. Amen.
—Psalm 25:20-21

C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

Jealousy

. . . for love is strong as death, jealousy fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame. —Proverbs 8:6

I know that jealousy is one of the seven deadly sins and I think, at least in part, it is because we so seldom confess it either to ourselves or to another. Jealousy is corrupting and raises its ugly head in so many ways. I watched part of the royal wedding between “Will and Kate,” and noticed all of the women wearing hats. I saw some of the women so subtly glancing at the hat of the woman in front of and around themselves. Were the glances jealousy or admiration? A promotion granted someone else to a position we had desired and thought we deserved—will it be congratulations or covetousness? Another person’s house or successful child—will it be admiration or envy? A pastor appointed to a larger congregation—will it be jealousy or joy? Someone else driving a car we have always wanted—jealousy or feelings of joy for them?

Heraclitus said, "Our jealousy lasts longer than the happiness of those of whom we are jealous. Jealousy can eat us up long after the person’s success about which we are jealous has faded." I think that was the point Jesus was making when he encouraged us not to be anxious about what we eat, drink, or wear. Will our worry add a single hour to our span of life (Matthew 6:27). Likely anxiety driven by our desire to keep up and pass the person next to us will only shorten our life span.

I think of the jealousy that arose within King Saul that led him to try and kill David. Saul, this once first and great king of Israel, was ruined by his jealousy. The jealousy over the influence of Jesus’ ministry led to some Pharisees and Sadducees deciding to get rid of him.

Life is too short for us to be eaten up with some jealousy over what another person has or has achieved. As the Proverb says this jealousy is fierce as the grave.

Prayer
Heavenly Father if there is envy or jealousy in my heart this day remind me of your love for me that I might once again return to the joy of being your child and thus genuinely rejoicing with others in their success. This I pray in the name of Jesus my Lord. Amen

C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

Now that Easter is Over

Simon Peter said to them, 'I am going fishing.' They said to him, 'We will go with you.'

Let me get this straight, Simon Peter, along with some of the other disciples of Jesus, had just witnessed the most transforming event in human history i.e., the resurrection of Jesus, and he wants to go fishing? It's like having thwarted some dreaded disease then moving forward with life like nothing happened.

How can this be? When the woman at the well encountered Jesus she ran and told everyone about how dramatically she was affected by him. When Zacchaeus met Jesus his life turned upside down and he gave back what he had defrauded others and more. When Legion, restored to his rightful mind by Jesus, Legion became Jesus' ambassador to his home town. Over and over again we read this in scripture where having met Jesus, people's lives changed.

How could Peter return to fishing as though nothing had happened? It's like having this wonderful, celebratory Easter worship experience then going back to work on Monday as though life is the same. The sad reality is that this is exactly what happens repeatedly, year in and year out. We celebrate the risen Lord on Sunday then return to life on Monday as though nothing has changed.

In his little volume Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, Marcus Borg talks about moving from the Jesus he knew as a child to the one he now knows as an adult, but in a more personal way (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, New York, 1995 pg. 3). What Borg is saying that he knew Jesus in a sense as a child but found Jesus in new and personal ways as an adult that have been life changing for him. As I read his book, I remembered how others have spoken with me about being "born again." They knew Jesus as a child, but were claiming Jesus in a more personal way as an adult. Though Borg and born again Christians might separate on the way they know Jesus, they both have in common the way this new relationship with Jesus has changed their lives.

That would be my hope for each of us during this Eastertide-we would know the resurrected Jesus in new, more personal life changing ways. I simply don't think that once we have encountered the risen Jesus our lives can be the same.

Prayer
Gracious God I give thanks on this first day of Eastertide for the gift of a risen savior. Lead me to know him better each day that knowing him I might understand how I might better serve you through Christ my Lord. Amen.

C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

Shame and Salvation

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame ... —Hebrews 12:1-2

Now there’s a word we don’t hear often—shame. I’m sorry for that. We’ve confused unhealthy shame that suffocates and holds people back from the healthy shame that enables us to feel pain because we are healthy enough to feel uncomfortable with being less than we ought to be and less than we want to be (Shame and Grace by Lewis B. Smedes).

Unhealthy shame exaggerates our faults. Unhealthy shame is chronic. Unhealthy shame is put on us by others, pervades our whole being, and is unspiritual. Healthy shame is perhaps one of the surest signs of our divine origin and our human dignity. This kind of shame comes on us when our actual self is in conflict with the true self we are meant to be. Our true self is a grateful person, is integrated as a whole, is tuned in to what is really going on around us, and helps us manage our passions.

Shame that is healthy can give us pain, but it can do it in a way that brings about a positive and creative result. The cross was a symbol of suffering and shame, as the old hymn goes. Yet, it had a positive result—resurrection. The author of Hebrews notes that Jesus accepted the shame of the cross as a means of helping us deal with our shame with the balm of grace.

There are some of us who are locked in the throes of unhealthy shame. We have permitted our shame to be chronic such that it continues to make our souls sick. Those who wear their shame in such a way need this week ahead. The week ahead is a vivid reminder that the cross was the way God showed us that he understood the soulful weight shame represents. The resurrection then becomes that act of grace wherein God says I do not hold your sin against you. So get over your shame. To be sure the source of our shame may be a part of our history, and we may still have to work with some of its debris, but it does not have to pervade our whole being. The resurrection offers us grace, but it is not cheap. Grace requires that we trust God and not ourselves to bring us through the turmoil of our sin, shedding its shame, and moving into a new appreciation of what it means to let God love us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, the week ahead offers me the opportunity to remember the road to salvation. May I be faithful in traveling it with you once again that whatever shame now besets me may be set aside that I might serve you with my whole heart through Jesus the Christ. Amen.

C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. —James 3:5b-6a

A member of our congregation sent me an email with an attachment from a news source that indicated a Methodist bishop, in light of the burning of a Koran by a non-Methodist pastor, had said he would burn one of our church buildings for every Koran that was burned in America. This member was wondering if this was true. I did a little research and it didn’t take long before I discovered that it was a bishop who said this all right, but a bishop from another denomination.

There are so many stories on the internet these days and I really appreciated that this member thought enough to run it by me in order to determine its veracity. I read some place that a myth on the internet, if not refuted in a couple of days, will become truth. That’s kind of scary.

Once upon a time we used to think, perhaps some of us still do, gossip was something that took place among some squinty-eyed people in a corner whose tongues spread false rumors and kept things stirred up. We tend to forget that the internet (email and texting) in so many ways has replaced this. So, many get sucked into the process not thinking that we may be participating in gossip which is every bit, if not more, as destructive as that which takes place in some corner of the room. James is writing about the power of the tongue. Like a small blaze it can burn down an entire forrest—it can destroy the reputation of one person or the unity and harmony of a congregation. Noting the power of the tongue and how it might be used, James writes later in this chapter: With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God (James 3:9).

With the tongue we can affirm someone or tear them down. With it we can honor our co-workers or cut them up. With it we can speak well of our spouse or bad mouth them to others. With it we can speak about our great congregation or we can pick it and its leadership apart. I have seen churches with the potential for greatness whittle away their gifts and destroy the very things that would have made them great—unity, harmony, and purpose. My brothers and sisters this ought not to be so (James 3:10).

So guard against spreading gossip on the internet, in the workroom, or the narthex of a church. In so doing, we will strengthen others and the Church of Jesus Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, there is much that I need to do today. Grant me the wisdom to discern what may build up those with whom I work or those members of the body of Christ, for it is in His name I pray. Amen.

Mac Hamon,
Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

Imagination

In my Father’s house are many dwelling places . . . —John 14:2

Pity the person who has little or no imagination! Many years ago I knew a woman who said to me that she would not meditate because that took imagination and she feared imagination might carry her to places God would not want. Yet Jesus in this passage is asking his disciples to use their imagination. We might paraphrase Jesus’ words by saying that the disciples had trusted this room for their existence; how much more might they trust God for the next.

Many of you have heard me talk about this incredible universe. We live in a solar system most of us cannot imagine. Yet this is but one of thousands of solar systems. Try as we might we can’t even imagine the place in which we now dwell. Of imagination William Blake writes: Imagination is the real and eternal world of which this vegetable universe is but a faint shadow . . . In other words, this world is but a canvas to our imagination [for something greater] (Thoreau).

This God-given gift of imagination, at least for me, trumps logic every time. Einstein said Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. It is impossible to gain a full appreciation of the Psalmist without using imagination. He frequently compares God’s mercy and steadfast love to the depth of an ocean or the height of the very heavens themselves. When he speaks of yearning for God’s presence as in a dry and thirsty land, imagination lets us feel the parchedness of our souls without God’s presence (Psalm 63:1).

Have you ever heard someone say in frustration, Use your imagination! It is what this passage of scripture says to those gathered at the graveside of one they have loved: Use your imagination! To those who think that there is no God because God does not seem logical, the universe around us says: Use your imagination! To those who long for life to be consistent, we hear the poet tell us that consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative.

Take a break today, if only for a little while, and use your imagination. Try to fathom what rests beyond the skin of this universe and celebrate the vastness of God. Try to imagine a yellow as vibrant as the daffodil. Try to imagine a place of beauty where you love to go, then in your imagination go there and let God share it with you. Use your imagination—it can be God’s treasured gift of himself to us.

Prayer God whose imagination does exceed my own, I give you thanks for the spark of imagination that disturbs this sleepy clod. Lift me for a moment today beyond what I see to what is possible because of your matchless grace in Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

Self Image

Let us make humankind in our image. . . . . —Genesis 1:26

This is the true joy in life: The being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. The being a force of nature, instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. —George Bernard Shaw

The scripture passage from Genesis has been the subject of treatises and books for centuries. They all fell under the Latin phrase imago Dei—image of God. Each of these works struggled with what it meant to be made in the image of God. After reading several books and articles over the years I concluded, at least for me, that it meant having the incredible, godlike ability of free choice.

I think Shaw is referring to self-image. Self-image is not the same as self-esteem. Self-image is how you see yourself rather than how you feel about yourself. Self-image is what you think you look like; what kind of person you think you are; how much you like yourself or think others like you; etc. all of which can and does influence self-esteem. Self-image is enhanced by the purposes we choose in life. And, as Shaw states, it is important that we recognize our purpose as a mighty one.

The shema is such a purpose—Hear O Israel: The Lord our God is one God. You shall love the lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might—Jesus lists the second and your neighbor as yourself reminding us that love for God is integral not only to having a healthy self-image, but a good image of others. Without love for self we become a selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world [has not] made [us] happy.

Some things I can do to build a good self-image are deliberately and quietly move out of the space where people are incessant with their grievances and complaining. (Now granted there are times as a pastor when I want to listen to another’s grievances and complaints. Partly because it may lead to some constructive action on both our parts, and partly because they may simply need to get it off of their chest to feel better about life.) I can change negative thoughts to positive ones. I can list things I like about myself—appearance, personality and skills. I can do this by beginning my day in the right way.

One of the best reasons for beginning a day with a time of devotion and prayer is what it does for self-image. First, I can affirm God as the very foundation of life for me. Second, it reminds me that that I am loved by God. Third, it reminds me that I do not have to bear nor face the world’s ills by myself. Finally, it helps me image my neighbor in a better light. In other words, it reminds me that I am made in God’s image and that is an enormous help when seeking a good self-image and a better image of others.

Prayer
God of all creation, I rejoice in this new day because I know that you love me, and the world that you created. May I, in remembering your love for me begin this day with a better image of whom I am so that I may strengthen the image of others around me. Amen.

Mac Hamon
Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

Praise God for Spring

For now the winter is past . . .
The flowers appear on the earth;
the time of singing has come. —Song of Solomon 2:11-12

It is, finally, if only by date, spring! It has seemed for young and old alike, who have bothered to express such thoughts to me, to be a winter too long and hard. It is a welcome miracle of the changing seasons. The Source of such a miracle confounds us, but to be sure the Source is not ourselves.

A little madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King,
But God be with the Clown—
Who ponders this tremendous scene—
This whole Experiment of Green—
As if this were his own! —Emily Dickinson

Poet and Song alike ascribe the beauty of this season to God, the Source of all. We are, to be certain, quick to blame God for the ravages of winter.

So welcome spring as a gift from God that so inspires the hymn to sing:

For the beauty of the earth,
for the glory of the skies,
hill and vale, and tree and flower,
sun and moon, and stars of light;

For the joy of human love,
brother sister, parent, child,
friends on earth and friends above,
for all gentle thoughts and mild; —Folliot S. Pierpoint

Prayer
Lord of all, best Gift Divine, to you we raise this our hymn of grateful praise!
Amen.

C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

I am not asking that you take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. —John 17:15

Well my circadian rhythms have been assaulted again by another seasonal change in time. As someone said to me upon mentioning this change, “I much prefer falling back than springing forward. I get more sleep.” It is amazing how our bodies and mental dispositions are affected by a one hour change.

I’ve been talking to various people as I prepare for my Sabattical trip, how to deal with the eight hour flight from New York to Budapest. The best advice I have heard is to get with the new pace. Don’t hole up in your room with the window shades down and try to sleep it off. Research agrees. The data indicates that we do far better at adjusting if we go out and join people going about their daily routine.

I think how easy it is for many people to look at the issues of the world, pull down the shades, and try to slumber through it. It would be easy for us to march to the cadence of our own drum beat. To do this would be to completely ignore everything Jesus said and stood for. When he talked about the criterion for final judgment he did not list among them the numbers of Bible study groups to which we belong, our regular attendance at worship, the money we gave to the church, or how good a person we are. Rather, Jesus talked about how these study groups, worship attendance, and money were translated into our action in the world—did we give a stranger drink and food; did we visit the sick and imprisoned; did we clothe the naked (Matthew 25:31ff).

I know the news is usually not very good. I know I am tempted to ignore it. Yet it will often tell me the ways in which I need to validate my faith through action. It is a new day. I know you may be in a bit of a fog because of the time change. However, don’t walk around in a fog when it comes to the needs of those around you. If Lent is about anything it is, as the liturgy states when we place ashes on our foreheads—receive these ashes that dying to self you may live for Christ—not only in the pew, but in the world.

Prayer
Gracious God, you have brought me hope through the gift of your Son. You know the world around me needs that hope. Forgive me when I have pulled down my shades and tried to sleep away the challenges of the world. Grant me courage and conviction of faith to serve wherever you send me today and always in the name of Christ. Amen.

C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

Check Your Attitude

Laugh, and he world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone.
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air.
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The title of this poem is Solitude. I think a far more fitting title would be Attitude! What Ella Wheeler Wilcox is saying to us via this oft-quoted poem is that whatever attitude we decide to adopt is precisely what we will attract in life. Think sad and we attract emptiness. Think mirth and the world will laugh right along with us.

This poem is also a very elementary presentation of energy field theory. Essentially, energy field theory says that there is an invisible vibratory field of energy surrounding all living objects, including human beings. This field is created by how we think and process our experiences wherever we are in the world. At certain levels of consciousness, the energy field vibrates fast. At other levels of consciousness, the energy vibrates slowly. So, there is a continuum along which varying levels of consciousness are responsible for creating the field of energy.

This was the point Jesus was making about fasting as an act of spiritual enrichment. He said when [we] fast do not look dismal . . . [rather]pour oil on your head and wash your face so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret (Matthew 6:17-18). Again, You are the light of the world. . . . let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14, 16).

Prayer
Heavenly Father, It is another gray day. I know that the weather around me does not have to dictate the spirit within me. I pray for the courage to choose the Light that is within me that I might be a light of leaven and hope to those who are around me to the glory of Jesus the Christ. Amen.


Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

Anger - Let It Out

Unexpressed anger is one letter short of danger.

The scriptures have a lot to say about the importance of expressed anger. Jesus taught that expressing our anger helps us avoid calling someone a name or even killing them. In fact, Jesus thought it was so important to express our anger, especially to the one with whom we are angry, that he said our gift to God is not acceptable until we have given opportunity for the anger to be expressed and resolved (Matthew 5:21-26).

That apostle Paul thought expressing our anger was so important that he wrote in his letter to the church at Ephesus (4:26-27):

Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil.

Though Christians should be the model for expressing anger in appropriate ways, we often follow the world’s model. Some of us express our anger in a sort of ready fire aim way. We let it out without first checking to see if the reason for our anger is valid and the person to whom we are expressing it is the correct person. This kind of anger can lead to insulting another person (Matthew 5:21).

Another way some of us deal with anger is to simply get quiet and have everyone around us guess what’s wrong with us. We give the person with whom we are angry the cold shoulder. Of course, if they don’t pick up on it we get even angrier at them for not sensing that we are angry with them to begin with. Letting our anger be expressed through silence makes us liable to judgment (Matthew 5:22)

And if we let our anger explode we can do the worst possible thing—call another person a fool or worse and be liable to hell (Matthew 5:22). Explosive anger can alienate us from our families, our co-workers and our brothers and sisters in Christ.

The bottom line: go to the person directly with whom we are angry or go the person directly who we think is angry with us. In so doing our anger keeps everyone out of danger.

Prayer
Gracious God if there is anger within me this day against another, or if I know of someone who bears anger toward me, grant me grace and courage to share it or receive it lest my soul and the soul of another be lost to receiving and sharing your love through Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

The Importance of Grief

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
-Matthew 5:4

Jalauddin Rumi, a Persian mystical poet, wrote:

I saw grief drinking a cup of sorrow and called out, 'It tastes sweet, does it not?' 'You've caught me,' grief answered, 'and you've ruined my business, how can I sell sorrow when you know it's a blessing?'

The short answer is you can't. Jesus was driving at a very important lesson about life-grieving is a part of life. Someone said that the falls of our life provide us with the energy to propel ourselves to a higher level. That's what Jesus was saying about grief-don't get lost in it, don't pretend loss does not affect you-grieve so that you can find the comfort needed so that you can move forward.

How many times in your life have dark times of despair, such as some kind of accident, an illness, a financial disaster, a breakup in a relationship, a fire or flood, or a death propelled you into the stages of anguish, anger, denial, and then grief? Like most of us, you sink into sorrow and feel the need to tell everyone about your misfortune. Ultimately, after a long period of time you begin to rise above it and reach the state of acceptance.

There is something to learn right here, right now in the middle of sorrow. You can take this lesson and taste the sweet certainty in the mystery. You don't have to pretend that the tragedy is to be liked or welcomed, only to vow to use it to generate the energy to move to a higher place in your life. Only then will you find in sorrow a blessedness that by the grace of God brings comfort and hope.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me to place in your arms the grief of my moment or of my past that I may find in the bitterness of it all the sweet comfort of your grace through Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

The Greatest of These Is Love

And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
-1 Corinthians 13:13

This line from, perhaps, one of the best loved and read passages in scriptures speaks of an incredible force. Though 1 Corinthians 13 is read at many weddings, the love of which it speaks is not romantic love or friendship love but selfless, sacrificial love. It is the kind of love that God has for you and me, and the kind of love we aspire to have for humanity.

About this love the Jesuit philosopher Pierre Teilhard De Chardin wrote: Someday, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tide and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love.

Imagine, no one has seen wind but we do see its effects. We see how it powers windmills that convert the wind to energy. We don't see gravity, but we see its effects. Though we see the waves of water and the tide as it goes in and out, we don't see all that creates them. In a sense we don't see love in a person's heart, but sure can see its effects.

We are moving toward harnessing more and more of these natural inexhaustible energies for good. Why can we not do the same with this sacrificial love of which Paul wrote and Jesus spoke? We can and we have-though we struggle to sustain it. I've seen the energy of this love harnessed and turned loose to heal another person broken by life's tragedies. I've seen the energy of this love harnessed and loosed to reconcile people at odds with a wrong decision or misspoken word. I've seen the energy of this love harnessed and loosed when a couple whose marriage has been strained by broken faith work to bring it back together.

All it takes is a decision of the mind and hearts to unleash the power of God's Spirit in our souls and make possible meeting the very challenge we face in our life today. The beauty of it is that it can all begin with a simple prayer.

Prayer
God of love, reign in my heart this day. Enable me to face with the power of your sacrificial love the barriers that may separate me from another. Enable me by the power of your sacrificial love to let go of the hurts I have been carrying for too long. Unleash in me that same power to love which was in Christ Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.

C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

Benefitting from Regrets

Someone has said that a life with no regrets is no life at all. I think what they were saying is that regrets go with a person who seeks to live as much in the moment as possible. I believe that is why Jesus spent so much time with Peter. Peter was a man of the moment. Such was the case when he tried to walk on the water or exclaimed that he was willing to die for Jesus or that he alone would be loyal. We now know that he was able to do none of these—regrets that caused him to weep bitterly (Matthew 26:75).

What kind of servant would Peter have been without those moments of passion? What kind of servant would he have been without his reach being greater than his grasp? The gospel might not have spread as far and wide as it did.

To be sure each of us has made mistakes along the way, and many of them quite regrettable. There are things we wish we would not have said, or hurt people we wish we had not hurt or made bad investments, consumed toxic substances, lost some competitive contests, and even been lost in our own self-importance. But perhaps the greatest of our regrets are those things we didn’t do. I would imagine Peter’s greatest regret was not having acknowledged to the servant-girl around the fire over which he was warming his hands that he knew the man of Nazareth (Matthew 26:26-75).

I look at the people in the Bible with such huge regrets that became the singers of God’s song—Joseph, David, Mary Magdalene, and Paul. They are all proof that regrets don’t have to control your life. Each day offers an opportunity to leave the regrets behind and move on. It is most often our regrets that prove to be the things from which wisdom grows. Life, real life lived earnestly and passionately will involve some regrets, but these regrets need not hold us captive, but brought into the presence of God’s grace can liberate us the more to be God’s servants.

Prayer
Heavenly Father I turn my regrets over to you. Help me to learn from them that I may serve you with humility and wisdom. In Jesus name. Amen.

Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

Forge Ahead

Lose this day loitering—‘twill be the same story
To-morrow—and the next more dilatory;
Each indecision brings its own delays,
And days are lost lamenting o’er lost days.
Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute—
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
Only engage, and then the mind grows heated—
Begin it, and then the work will be completed!
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

This is the kind of verse that should be read at the beginning of a new year or on a Monday, or upon returning from time away or upon starting some new venture, or at last facing a difficult challenge. We’ve waited long enough. Our talents as God has given them to us now need to be engaged. We can do it!

In the story of the talents we forget that not everyone had the same number of talents. It is natural that we should pass this little bit of trivia by. The point of Jesus’ story is twofold. First, those who had talents used them, and without delay. The second, one did not. He buried them in order to minimize the risk and escape any wrath resulting from failure.

How many people there are with incredible talents to share that refuse to engage them because of a lack of boldness. How many people fail to confront their reality because of the delays buried beneath indecision. How many people never move toward their potential because they are busy lamenting o’er lost days.

God does not need believers, but people of faith—people willing to boldly take the risk and live a life of difference. The challenge/opportunity is before you only engage . . . begin it, and then the work will be completed!

Prayer
God of grace, God of glory you have called us to this moment in our lives. You have given us gifts to be used for your glory. Grant us the wisdom to discern those gifts, and the boldness to use them for your Kingdom’s sake. Amen.

Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

Have Patience

May the God of patience and encouragement grant you to live
in harmony with one another. —Romans 15:5

I love this passage that speaks about God’s patience—God’s steadfast patience. I love it because it makes so much sense about who God is. It is unimaginable that God would create we humans a little lower than the angels, fearfully made, and not seek to work patiently with us as the potter does the lump of clay.

When I reflect over my life it is abundantly clear that God has been steadfastly patient with me. In my slowness to learn the simplest of Jesus teachings and how they might improve my life, God has kept on teaching. In the horrible choices I have made, God has not been there to beat me up, but to apply the balm of grace when I have beaten up on myself.

Patience and encouragement really are the main ingredients of harmony. They certainly pay dividends in our relationships. A marriage is much more harmonious when both spouses are patient and encouraging with each other. A family is much more harmonious when parents are patient and encouraging with their children.

It is never too late for a wandering world to come home to this idea either. Lucille Clifton is one of the great poets of the last century. In one of her poems she writes:

God waits for the wandering world.
he expects us when we enter,
late or soon.
he will not mind my coming after hours.
his patience is his promise.

It is a new day and no matter how it goes, it will not be too late in our wanderings to bring this day to God, even after hours.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, there are challenges ahead for me this day. It may be the challenge of something great or simply the challenge of the routine and the trivial. Whatever they may be let me not forget that as I wander through them I may, whether now or after hours, entrust them to your steadfast care. Amen.

C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana

To Be More Childlike

Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Whoever humbles himself like this child,
he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. —Matthew 18:3-4

It is a statement of Jesus with such clarity that it is difficult to miss his point. Unless we have the simple trust and faith in God that a child has, we’ll never get the central idea of the kingdom of God—unconditional love. Children have been used by other leaders as a means of hearkening us to our more noble selves. In Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech from the Lincoln Memorial in August, 1963 he said,

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

President Barack Obama touched on it in his reference to Christina Green, the nine year old girl killed by the carnage in Tucson, in his speech at the service for those victims:

I want us to live up to [Christina Green’s] expectations. I want her democracy to be as good as she imagined it. All of us—we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children’s expectations.

The same should be said of a church where people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character and that we all want a church that will be as good as our little children imagine it.

Of course none of this is possible unless it begins with you and me. It begins right where Jesus’ words leave off—unless we become as a child. It sounds easy, and perhaps is easier than we imagine, but for an adult it is a challenge. None of us want to be hoodwinked or otherwise taken advantage of, but at some point such risks must be taken. Especially if we believe in what Jesus stood for and the world he, even today, seeks to transform through those of us who seek to be his followers.

Prayer,
Heavenly Father, fill us with the love and light of your kingdom on this new day that we may be those willing to risk lives lived by the simple but profound love and hope of a child in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana